My Kingdom Building Done Right!-Chapter 50: If I Were In Your Place, I’d Marry Him In A Heartbeat
"Yuni, just who is that guy?" Jason asked after Ulric and the warriors left the Grimjaw Mountain to help evacuate his people. "Why did Uncle Ulric refer to him as the Great Chieftain?"
The title of Great Chieftain was commonly used to refer to the Barbarian King or those who aspired to be one.
Only two barbarian tribes had dared to call their chieftains with that title.
The one in the West, and the one in the South.
The one in the west ruled the lands outside of the Borderlands. However, as much as the southern chieftain didn’t want to admit it, the one ruling the west was the true Barbarian King.
He was the chieftain of the Azran Tribe, which had tens of thousands of people. Not even the surrounding kingdoms dared to mess with them.
Still, the uncrowned Barbarian King of the Borderlands was the chieftain of the Warclaw Tribe. The warriors under his command numbered in the thousands, allowing him to control the resource-rich areas in the Borderlands.
These two tribes were the reason why the Kingdom of Britannia couldn’t explore deep in the Borderlands. They had thwarted every single attempt.
They might not be allies, but they understood that if one of them fell, the other would be next.
Compared to these two massive tribes, even the Alborin Tribe, Riverfang Tribe, and Black Wolf Tribe combined wouldn’t even be recognized as their rivals.
Not to mention, these three tribes were located to the east of the Borderlands, where resources were scarcer, unlike the Western and Southern regions.
"It’s because Leone is... someone our tribe recognized as our savior," Yuni replied. "Without him, we would have been easily defeated by the Black Wolf Tribe and their allies. In fact, maybe I’d be Arlo’s plaything now if Leone hadn’t appeared."
Jason felt that the final piece of the puzzle had fallen in place.
He had also been surprised when he heard the news that Arlo and his allies were defeated in battle by the Alborin Tribe.
He wasn’t the only one with that reaction. The other neighboring tribes had thought the same, for they all believed the Alborin Tribe’s fate was already sealed.
"So this is what it means to defy fate," Jason muttered. "Then who is Leone, and where did he come from?"
Jason and Yuni were very close to each other, and the latter thought of him as an older brother, so she didn’t hesitate to tell him everything.
Also, Leone had permitted the young lady to share his identity with Jason. If she wasn’t given any permission, Yuni would have kept the secret even if she treated Jason like her family.
After he learned that Jason was a descendant of the Argus Family, a firm ally of the Frontera Family, he hoped that Jason could make the connection. But he also understood that Jason might have no idea about the ties between their families.
In fact, Leone’s older brother, Edward Frontera, was engaged to a lady from the Argus Family.
Leone even thought fate had brought him and Jason together, perhaps to be allies in a place where survival of the fittest was the norm.
After hearing Yuni’s story, Jason looked at her in disbelief. He was half-tempted to ask her if she was playing a prank on him.
On the day that the Alborin Tribe asked the Goddess to send a hero to save them, Leone literally fell from the skies and crashed on their altar.
He then received a miraculous power from a Grimoire that allowed him to help Yuni and her father at their direst moment.
The more Jason tried to dissect Yuni’s story, the more he found the whole situation absurd!
Even so, he trusted her with his life and knew that she wouldn’t lie, so he just had to accept it.
"If what you say is true, then I should do my best to form a good relationship with Leone," Jason said calmly. "I saw the way the Chieftain of the Riverfang Tribe looked at him earlier. I’m sure he’s thinking of the same thing."
"What thing?" Yuni asked out of curiosity.
"To get closer to Leone while Uncle Ulric is away," Jason said in a serious tone. "He already knows the one with the most authority is Leone, not Uncle Ulric. As such, he will do his best to replace the Alborin Tribe as Leone’s strongest supporter."
Yuni blinked once, then twice, before averting her gaze.
She didn’t have the heart to tell Jason that Leone was already waiting for the "fish" to bite the bait.
In short, the young man had no intention of pushing Kael’s advances away. He even wanted to be besties with the Chieftain as soon as possible!
She could already imagine Leone’s and Daedalus’ villainous laughter once Kael agreed to be the young man’s vassal.
The thought alone made the young lady giggle. She could already see it coming!
Jason thought Yuni giggled because she believed Leone wouldn’t favor the Riverfang Tribe over the first one to make contact with the young man.
Seeing her reaction, Jason held her hand and stared straight into her eyes.
"Yuni, do not underestimate Kael," Jason said calmly.
"He is a very sly, scheming person. I’m very sure he has already thought of forging a strong alliance with Leone through marriage. You must not take this lightly. You should rein him in now while you still have the chance!"
"You sound like the two Elders of our tribe," Yuni replied wryly. "They’re pushing my father to tie Leone and me into marriage."
"And they’re right." Jason nodded. "Tell me, do you have absolute confidence that Leone will not leave the Alborin Tribe? Are you so confident of his mental fortitude to resist honey traps?"
Yuni didn’t reply right away as she thought of the words Leone had told her the other day.
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"Yuni, the number of ladies who want to marry me can circle the entire territory of our Viscounty without problems," Leone said seriously. "But I am not a person moved by beauty alone!"
"Then what kind of women move you?" Yuni asked in amusement.
While she didn’t entirely believe the young man’s words, she had to admit he was very pleasing to the eye. His claims of having many admirers and suitors might be exaggerated, but still believable.
"Well... I really can’t answer that." Leone admitted. "After all, no lady has made my heart skip a beat. But I promised Daedalus I would pick the right lady to marry. After all, I don’t want to be assassinated by my own wife, you know?"
"Then, what will you do if that day comes?" Yuni looked him straight in the eye. "When you fall in love with someone so hard that you can’t live without them?"
"I’ll cross that bridge when I get there," Leone replied with a shrug. "After all, I’m a pretty good catch myself. Any lady who can land me on shore will be settled for life."
————
Yuni had chuckled then, thinking Leone was too full of himself. But now, he was the most irreplaceable part of the Alborin Tribe, proving he was indeed a good catch.
"I can’t say for sure that he has enough mental fortitude to resist honey traps," Yuni finally spoke after thinking things through. "But Leone is not alone. He has Daedalus and vassals who will ensure he makes sound decisions."
"You’re still too innocent, Yuni." Jason sighed. "If I were in your place, I’d marry him in a heartbeat. But I’d like to believe that the Hero who fell from the sky to save your tribe will be strong enough to resist such temptations. Otherwise... he won’t survive here in the Borderlands."
Yuni smiled faintly because she agreed with Jason’s words.
The two had no idea that Leone was standing right outside the wooden house, pressed against the wall to eavesdrop on their conversation. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
Daedalus hovered beside him, nodding in agreement with Jason’s words.
Its current Master was a man of many hidden talents. Those talents were hidden so deep that Leone didn’t know they existed!
When the time was right, Leone finally left the wooden house to meet up with Kael of the Riverfang Tribe.
The latter had asked him to talk in private today, and Leone was already looking forward to how the old man would try to butter him up.
